Filing device



1969 D. E. CORNELL Ill, ETAL 3,

FILING DEVICE Filed May 10, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS DUDLEY E. CORNELL III JAMES L. EVANS BYM W wJw-J ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 25, 1969 o. E. CORNELL m, ETAL 3,

FILING DEVICE Filed May 10, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f m w w h f 34 56 5? 58 59 34 INVENTORS DUDLEY E. CORNELL III JAMES L. EVANS ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,480,150 FILING DEVICE Dudley E. Cornell III, and James L. Evans, both of 225 San Pedro NE, Albuquerque, N. Mex. 87108 Filed May 10, 1967, Ser. No. 637,598 Int. Cl. A47f 3/14, /16

US. Cl. 211-11 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a filing device and more particularly to a filing device which is simple and inexpensive in construction and which may be assembled without tools or other mechanical devices.

Conventional filing devices, and particularly desk file folders, have generally involved relatively heavy and expensive construction, and have included at least one heavy and awkward unit which could not easily be broken down into smaller components. The present invention is designed to overcome these handicaps and to provide a filing device which is easy to assemble and which may be easily broken down into small, lightweight, and highly portable components.

An important feature of this invention relates to the provision of a filing device having several identical components as the basic unit of construction.

A second important feature of the invention relates to the provision of a filing device which is readily portable and which is easily and inexpensively assembled.

Another feature of the invention relates to the shape and position of the filing device when assembled.

Still another feature of the invention relates to the storing and shipping of the filing device.

This invention contemplates other and more specific objects, features and advantages which will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a desk file folder constructed according to the principles of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of one of the identical compartment sections comprising a compartment of the file folder of FIGURE 1;

5 FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of the compartment section of FIGURE 2, taken along the line IIIIII thereof;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of the compartment section of FIGURE 2, taken along the line IVIV thereof;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the desk file folder of FIGURE 1, taken along the line V-V thereof; and

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of a modified desk file folder constructed according to the principles of this invention.

Reference numeral 10 in FIGURE 1 generally designates a desk file folder constructed according to the principles of this invention. The file folder 10 comprises five box-like filing compartments 11-15 which are connected together in a stack, and each of which has an open end 21-25 into which may be placed papers, envelopes or other informational materials. The filing compartment is made up of two identical component sections 26 and 27, and each of the other filing compartments 11-14 is similarly constructed. The component section 27, which is identical to each of the other component sections, is shown in detail in FIGURES 2-4.

The component section 27 is constructed of moled plastic and comprises the bottom half of the box-like filing compartment 15. A bottom portion 30 of the section 27 has a back wall portion 31 extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom, and two side wall portions 32 and 33 extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom. A small ridge 34 extends downward from the underside of the bottom portion 30 completely around the bottom portion 30, and three ridges 36-38 extend downward from the bottom portion 30 length-wise thereof. An indentation 40 is positioned in the center of a front edge 41 of the bottom portion 30 to facilitate handling of informational materials which may be deposited thereon. Four generally rectangular sections 42-45 are recessed downward in the four corners of bottom portion 30. Four slightly larger generally rectangular sections 46-49, located adjacent the four sections 42-45, are also recessed downward in the bottom portion 30. Four larger generally rectangular sections 51-54 are cut out of the bottom portion 30. The undersides of rectangular sections 42-45 and 46-49 lie in a plane which includes the bottom of ridges 34 and 36-38. Each rectangular section 42-45 has two circular holes 56-63 respectively, located therein. A hollow indented support member 65 is molded into the side wall 33 of the component section 27. The support member 65 has a flat top surface 66 which lies in a plane including a top edge 67 of the side Wall 33, and a circular hole 68 is positioned in the top surface '66. A second indented hollow support member 70 is molded into the side wall 32, and has a flat top surface 71 which lies in a plane including a top edge 72 of the side wall 32. A fastener prong 73 having a neck portion 74 and a larger head portion 75 extends upward from the fiat surface 71 of support member '70. The support members 65 and 70 are positioned symmetrically about a transverse center line of the component section 27 running along the center of the ridge 37. The fastener prong 73 and the hole 68 form male and female parts respectively of a set of self-locking fastener means molded onto the component section 27. A second set of fastener means 77 having a fastener prong 78 and a circular hole 79 is similarly molded into the back wall 31 in a symmetrical relation about the center line along the ridge 37. The self-locking fastener parts 68, 71, 78 and 79 serve to lock the component section 27 to a second identical component section. When the component section 26 is positioned with its generally concave side facing the generally concave side of the component section 27 and its self-locking fastener parts aligned with the self-locking parts of the component section 27, the fastener prongs of the section 27 may be fitted into the fastener holes of the section 26 and the fastener prongs of the section 26 may be fitted into the fastener holes of the section 27 to secure the two sections together and to form the box-like filing compartment 15. It should be noted that the process of fastening the two component sections together is quick and simple, and that no tools or apparatus is required other than the component sections themselves.

The manner in which the box-like filing compartments 14 and 15 are held together to form a part of the file folder 10 may be seen in the cut-away portion of FIG- URE l. A set of legs 81, only two of which are shown in FIGURE 1, is fastened to the underside of the component section 27 to support section 27 and the desk file folder 10 of which it is a part. A fiat upper portion 82 of the leg 81 rests against the underside of the generally rectangular section 42 of bottom portion 30, immediately around the circular hole 56, and a smaller cylindrical neck portion 8'3 of the leg 81 extends into the hole 56 and is frictionally secured therein. The component section of the box-like filing compartment 15 is positioned adjacent a component section 85 of the box-like filing compartment 14 in such a manner that the sides opposite the concave sides of the sections 26 and 85 are in facing relation. A small generally cylindrical plastic snapin 86 is fitted into holes 89 and 90 in the bottom portions of component sections 85 and 26, holes 89 and 90 corresponding to holes 56 and 62 respectively of the component section 27. A hole 91 in the component section 85, corresponding to the hole 56 in the component section 27, is seen in the cut-away portion of FIGURE 1. Four snap-ins are used to connect each of the other box-like filing compartments 1114 to its adjacent filing compartment in a similar manner.

An alternate offset or slanted construction of the desk file folder is shown in FIGURE 6 in which the snapin 86 is positioned in the back hole 89 of the component section 85 corresponding to the hole 57 of the component section 27, and in the front hole 90 of the component section 26 corresponding to the hole 62 of the component section 27. Thus a front edge 92 of the component section 85 extends beyond a front edge 93 of the component section 26. Three other snap-ins are similarly positioned in the front hole of the other three pairs of holes of component section 26, and in the back holes of the other three pairs of holes of the component section 85, to connect the component section 85 to the component section 26 in an offset manner as described. The reason for this offset construction is to overcome the slanting of the desk file folder 10 due to the pair of legs 81, and to position the open ends 21-25 of the box-like compartments 11-15 in a vertical line, one above the other.

It is seen that the desk file folder 10 may be assembled quickly and simply, and that no tools are required. The only equipment required are the several snap-ins and the component sections, and any number of box-like filing compartments may be assembled together to form a desk file folder of any desired size.

Since all of the component sections of the desk file folder 10 are identical, only one set of dies need be made for molding the plastic sections. The desk file folder 10 is therefore simple and economical to construct. It is also highly portable, since the component sections are light in weight and may be dis-assembled easily for shipment if necessary.

The desk file folder 10 is designed to be used primarily as a tiered horizontal file folder, as described above. However, it should be noted that the same desk file folder 10 may be also used as a slanted vertical file, if the file folder 10 is positioned to rest on the ends of the filing compartments 1115 opposite the open ends thereof. Thus,the same file folder compartments may be used to construct a horizontal file folder, a slanted vertical file folder, or a non-slanted vertical file folder. Since the file folder compartments may be easily and quickly assembled or disassembled, any desired construction of the desk file folder 10 may be obtained in a matter of minutes.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected Without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of this invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a filing device, a plurality of sections joinable together to define a plurality of compartments having open ends adjacent one another and facing in the same direction, each compartment having a closed end opposite the open end thereof with opposed generally parallel wall surfaces on opposite sides of the region between said open and closed ends, joining means for selectively securing said sections together in first and second relationships with said open ends being in a common plane in both relationships, said wall surfaces being in parallel planes transverse to said common plane of said open ends in said first relationship of said sections, said sections in said second relationship being stacked one above another with said common plane of said open ends being vertical, with the open end of each section higher than the closed end thereof and with each of said 'wall surfaces being downwardly inclined from said open end thereof to said closed ends thereof, and leg means fastened to the lowermost of said sections in said second relationship to effect support of said sections from a horizontal planar surface while positioning said open ends in a common vertical plane and while positioning said surfaces in said downwardly inclined planes.

2. In a filing device as defined in claim 1, said joining means including mating pin and socket means on said sections selectively positionable to dispose said wall surfaces in parallel planes transverse with respect to said common plane of said open ends or in parallel planes at obtuse angles with respect to said common plane of said open ends.

3. In a filing device as defined in claim 1, each of said compartments being defined by a pair of said sections of substantially identical form having concave sides in facing relationship with the sides opposite said concave sides being joinable to sides of sections of other pairs of said sections defining adjacent compartments.

4. In a filing device, first and second identical sections, said first and second sections each having a generally concave side, and said first and second sections being constructed to be joinable together with said generally concave sides in facing relation to form a box-like filing compartment having an opening at one end thereof, said first and second sections each having a side opposite said generally concave side, a plurality of said box-like filing compartments each having an opening at one end and each comprising two sections identical to said first and second sections joined together with their generally concave sides in facing relation, said plurality of box-like compartments being joined together in a stack, each compartment having an-opposite' side of one of its sections joined to an opposite side of one section of an adjacent compartment of said stack in fixed facing relation, each of said compartments of said stack having its two sections generally parallel to the two sections of an adjacent compartment, the open ends of said compartments of said stack all facing in the same direction relative to said stack, said stack of compartments having an end compartment with an opposite side of one of its two sections joined to an opposite side of a section of an adjacent compartment, and a pair of legs fastened to the opposite side of the other of the two sections of said end compartment to enable said stack of compartments to rest partially on said pair of legs, said pair of legs being constructed to cause said stack of compartments to be slanted at a small angle from the horizontal when said stack of compartments rests on said pair of legs on a horizontal planar surface.

5. In a filing device as defined in claim 4, said compartments of said stack of compartments having their open ends lying along a vertical line through'one of said open ends, when said stack of compartments rests on said pair of legs on a horizontal planar surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES- PATENTS 1961 "Great Britain. CHANCELLOR B.-HARRIS, Primary Examiner U.S,Cl.X .R. 211-128, 134; 312 111 

